The EverFree Forest Chronicles
by KibaElunal
Summary: One day, Twilight Sparkle receives a note from Princess Celestia, asking her and her friends to go and explore the Ever-Free Forest with her friends, to find out why many ponies have been disappearing all over Equestria. However, the Mane Six will soon come to find that not everything is as it seems inside of the spooky forest. Adventure and Action galore in this Pony's Tale.


The Ever-Free Forest Chronicles

Chapter 1: The Assignment

Twilight Sparkle sniffed the air with a light sigh. She smelled the magical smoke that could only mean one thing: a letter from Princess Celestia, her teacher. Sure enough shortly after she heard the sound of tiny reptilian feet clicking across the wooden stairs as her assistant Spike came bounding down them.

"Twilight, Twilight. Princess Celestia has sent us an assignment!" The small dragon seemed rather excited about the prospect, and Twilight had to admit to herself that it had been quite a while since they had gone on any sorts of long trips. The piece of parchment in Spike's claws took on a rosy glow as Twilight removed the seal and unrolled the scroll to examine it closer. Reading aloud so that her assistant could hear she began, "Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I am quite proud of the continuing reports of you and your friends. The lessons you have learned and the new knowledge you have obtained through your trials and tribulations are astounding to say the least."

Twilight Sparkle beamed as she read it. Since she was a pupil of the Princess herself, the compliments she received meant a lot, and she eagerly sought after the Princess' approval. She continued to read the note; "However, a few issues have been brought to my attention regarding the nearby area surrounding Ponyville. Ponies have been reporting their livestock gone missing, as well as a few ponies themselves that have disappeared over the course of the last few weeks. I wish for you to go and investigate these matters within the Ever Free Forest. It would be wise to be accompanied by your friends, as their unique skills and talents could be of use to you. Sincerely yours, Princess Celestia."

As she finished reading her new assignment, Spike could see that she was trembling, though in fear or in anticipation, he always had a hard time determining. He gently put his arm around her neck hugging her.

"Twilight…are you alright?"

Her eyes glowed with an odd fire, as her wanderlust and sense of adventure had been ignited with this new task.

"Spike! Round up the others, we've got some exploring to do." She began tearing through the library finding all of the books she could on the Ever Free forest, attempting to prepare for the journey.

"Twilight…are you sure about this? It sounds rather dangerous." Spike watched as she ran back and forth, and knew deep inside she wasn't going to answer his question. Whenever she got into moods like this, he had about as much luck getting her to pay attention to him as he did getting Rarity's affections, as much as he hated to admit it. Shaking his head he went to the door and slipping out he walked down the road, thinking deeply about the letter. "It's true that ponies have been disappearing lately, I hope that they are alright, wherever they may be." He mused to himself as he let the idea roll about in his mind. All too soon, his thoughts were interrupted by the looming shadow that was cast by the Carousel Boutique; his first stop was of course to find Rarity and to get her to join them on their expedition.

"A request? From the Princess?!" The white unicorn seemed overjoyed by the thought. She giggled with excitement to herself. "And of course a new journey means new outfits. Oh my; whatever shall I wear?"

Spike sighed happily to himself as he watched the fair unicorn dashing this way and that, pulling out different fabrics and gemstones that were so beautiful he felt that he was salivating. Wiping away the drool from his mouth, he shook his head clearing his thoughts. "Rarity, this is serious. For all we know, whatever is out there hunting these ponies is really dangerous. And I…well, I'm just worried is all…"

"Oh don't be silly my wittle Spikey-Wikey. We are ladies, and a lady must always remember to take on any challenge with dignity and grace. Besides with Applejack and Rainbow Dash at our side, we won't be in any danger. Those two are practically the strongest ponies in all of Equestria." She would smile turning to him and with her magic holding up two outfits. "Now back to what's really important, turquoise silk blouse with matching bottoms or periwinkle Egyptian cotton summer dress?"

Spike shook his head, starting to fear that perhaps everyone was a little too excited about this trip. "Go for the dress." He finally decided, to which Rarity gave an emphatic squee, and immediately began crafting outfits for the rest of the ponies. After watching her for a while longer, he decided to leave before she had him start trying on dresses too, boy would that have been humiliating. Slipping out the door he walked further down the road in Ponyville until he came upon Sugar cube Corner, the snack shop ran by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and also the home of Pinkie Pie. Spike was curious as to how she would react to the news, seeing as how Pinkie Pie seemed to get excited even over the smallest of things.

Spike pushed open the door to the store, the small bell at the top ringing out to indicate entry. Pinkie Pie seemed to appear behind the counter from nowhere as if she had merely blinked into existence. "Hiya Spike!" She called out excitedly as she rushed out to greet him. "Come here for something sweet today? I just finished a fresh batch of crystal cookies if you want one. They are piping hot." Spike licked his lips at the thought of it, and before he could even answer, he found himself sitting with Pinkie Pie sharing a plate of hot cookies and drinking ice cold milk.

"Actually," he commented after finishing off another cookie in one gulp, "I'm here because Twilight was asked by Princess Celestia to form an exploration party." As soon as he said it, he regretted his wording, and before he had a chance to change it the bouncy pink pony pranced upon the table and went into a long rant.

"A party! Oh I just love parties! I'm going to bring cakes and cookies, and balloons and streamers! Oooh, oooh, oooh and candy! Parties have to have candy! I'll get to work immediately! No…Faster than immediately! What's faster than immediately…oh! How about yesterday? I'll have it done yesterday!"

Spike managed to slip out when she reached the part about unweaving the laws of Physics and how to pierce the space-time continuum in order to travel back in time to tell herself to make the treats for the party.

"Well…I think that sort of counts…" he muttered to himself as he made his way to Sweet Apple Acres. When he got there he could hear yelling all the way from the gate. Hurrying up the path he would run right into the giant Red Earth Pony that everyone referred to as Big Macintosh. Spike had admittedly never spoken to him before, but he had heard a lot about him through Twilight. "Uh... hey Big Macintosh…is Applejack around? I've got an important message to share with her."

The large Clydesdale simply nodded over his shoulder towards the barn where screaming and shouting could be heard giving a simple "Ayup." Spike had to admit to himself that while he was rather intimidating by stature, the pony seemed a bit simple minded, or at least simple when it came to his vocabulary. As he headed towards the barn Macintosh called after him, "I'd be careful if I was you…those two have been at it since breakfast."

"I wonder what he meant by that…" Spike thought to himself as he continued towards the barn. All that came from it were insults from two familiar voices.

"Come on pardner, I've lifted hay bales that've put up more resistance than you."

"Yeah well, I've pushed around clouds that have put up more of a fight than YOU."

"Oh is that so? Well why in tarnation haven't you beaten me yet?"

"I'm just saving my energy, don't want you to lose too quickly and get all depressed like last time."

"You may wanna recheck your memory sugar cube, because I'm the one who beat you last time."

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

Spike shook his head and entered, just as he thought there were Rainbow Dash and Applejack, hooves locked over a table in a fierce hoof wrestling match. The two continued to trash talk one another back and forth, being egged on by Scootaloo and Applebloom, both of whom were also arguing back and forth over which one was better. Sweetie Belle on the other hand looked intently at their hooves, making sure the game stayed fair and acting as the judge of the winner. It seemed that their hooves had been in the exact same place forever before they finally noticed Spike.

"Howdy there Spike…ugh…can't really talk right now Sugar cube, what was it you needed?"

"Yeah Spike, we're in the middle of something here. Can this wait?"

Spike's tail swished back and forth. "No it can't wait you two, Twilight needs your help. Celestia has sent us a new assignment and she wants you guys to come too."

"No way Spike, not until I show AJ here who's boss."

"Not a chance Dashie, this cowgirl is going to take you down."

"Guys! This is serious, ponies have been disappearing over town, and Celestia wants us to go and explore the Ever Free forest. Supposedly there are new creatures that have been popping up. One's that even Celestia has never heard of!"

That got their attention. The two released hoofs, drawing them back from one another. Applejack was the first to speak, "Well then, seems we've got ourselves a bonafide mystery on our hands. We can't very well let those poor ponies feel like they're all alone out there."

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement, her streaked mane bobbing up and down as she did. "Tell me about it, and if we let you guys go by yourselves, there's no telling what would happen to you. We owe it to our friends to help them." The blue Pegasus spread her wings as she walked towards the barn door. "I'll go get Fluttershy, Spike. It may take a bit more convincing then what you've got. No offense."

With that the powerful Pegasus spread her wings and soared towards Fluttershy's little cottage, leaving Applejack and Spike alone with the three little ones. Applebloom jumped up and down excitedly.

"You hear that girls? A monster hunt! Maybe we can get Monster Hunting cutie marks."

The other two agreed and they all cheered in unison, "Cutie Mark Crusaders! Let's move out." They began to make a mad dash for the door and before they got there in the blink of an eye a lasso flew out tightening around them and jerking them back in.

"Now just where do you think you young 'uns are going? This is a dangerous mission, and you are too young to get involved." Applejack sighed and untying them took off her hat and put it over Applebloom's head. "Besides…someone needs to help Big Brother Macintosh with the chores around here." Applejack gave Applebloom a wink as she turned back to Spike. "Alright Spike, let's roll." She opened the door and stepped out into the crisp air, quickly rushing towards the library with her trusty lasso by her side. As Spike followed her he wondered just how Rainbow Dash was going to convince Fluttershy to come along.

*********Meanwhile*********

"C'mon Fluttershy! Twilight is counting on us!" Rainbow Dash pounded on the cottage's wooden door again, drawing out another soft whimper from the other side. She gasped exasperated and rolled her eyes.

"But Rainbow Dash…it's scary in the Forest…what if we run into monsters?" Fluttershy whimpered lightly through the door.

"That's the point Fluttershy! We have to find what's taking all of the ponies in Ponyville. Those ponies need us."

The door cracked open a little, and Rainbow Dash immediately seized upon the opportunity to pounce on Fluttershy pinning her down before she could get away. "Pleeeeeease Fluttershy? We really need you. You are so good with animals." She shook her head lightly, "I swear Fluttershy, if you come with us I'll do anything!"

Fluttershy looked up at her with a sly grin, "Anything?" Fluttershy gently rolled the Pegasus off of her and dusted herself off. "Well…I do need to get food for Angel while we are away…he is so picky. Would you mind going with him to the vegetable garden and picking out something for him to eat. Be sure to bring him with you." Fluttershy smiled to Rainbow as the white bunny hopped closer to her and impatiently tapped his foot.

Rainbow Dash groaned, she knew all about Angel and his antics, and she was about to have a conniption fit."Fine, fine. I'll let him pick out his stupid dinner. Will you go?"

Fluttershy nodded giving her a big hug. "Thanks Rainbow Dash, you rock…woohoo…" she giggled a little as she recalled her friend teaching her to cheer. "Anyway I'll go get packed up, be sure to pat him on the head when you leave, or else he has trouble sleeping when I'm gone."

Rainbow Dash sighed and after waiting for a very long time and giving him a pat on the head that may have been just a little bit too much like a stomp, all of the ponies finally had assembled under Twilight's roof. Preparing for the journey ahead in which they were about to embark, they discussed their plan. They had managed to locate an area in the forest where the most ponies were last seen before their disappearance, and it was here they determined would be the first step on their journey towards solving this mystery once and for all.


End file.
